Toxin composition of the toxic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima isolated from different locations along the Galician coast (NW Spain)

The DSP toxin composition of 19 Prorocentrum lima isolates from different locations of the Galician rias (Vigo and Pontevedra) was investigated by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorimetric detection. Boiling and freeze/thaw/hydrolyse methodology were applied during extraction to detect OA, DTX1, DTX2 and their esterified derivatives. OA and DTX2 were detected in both free and esterified form, the latter always in very low amounts, whilst DTX1 was always present in the free form. This indicate that the hypothesized self-protection mechanism of toxin storage in the less active esterified forms does not seem to apply to DTX1. A slight increase in the toxin concentration per cell was found during growth, although toxin composition did not vary appreciably. Toxin production and toxin profile varied significantly depending on the isolate. Four groups of P. lima were differentiated by cluster analysis according to their toxin composition. It is noteworthy that one of the clusters comprised all the strains collected from one location characterised by its geographical isolation, whereas the other clusters consisted of isolates from different locations. The differences in the toxin profile from P. lima strains and from the DSP contaminated shellfish, together with the very good correlation between Dinophysis spp occurrence and DSP toxicity in shellfish, support that these planktonic species are the main agents responsible for DSP events in Galicia. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.